POETRY GROUNDCOVER NEWS Home Grove LORRAINE LAMEY Groundcover contributor In the stand of pines the roots hold snugly to the eroding esker. The roots sing Hang in there! or Hang on! but mostly I’ve got you!, a weaving chorus of I got you!s. They crisscross each other like embroidery — tender, intricate, and whole. “Home Sweet Home” on a cliff edge. The trees are sewn together by and with each other defying gravity with their epic height praising to the sky We’ll grow and die together! You know it’s not true — the uniformity of action and experience, that is. But it sounds and feels right even as one by one they germinate, grow, disease, die, and decay in this one grove. Wind whisper, cardinal cheer, hunting hawk silence, gray squirrel scurry, breeze blown bole groan, Canada geese hronk overhead. I am stitched into this grove. A ladle of blood SASHA JADE Groundcover contributor A ladle of blood Sticky and thick, an iron taste to sear the tongue. It fills my throat, I want to scream but nothing comes. Nothing but a ladle of blood Gurgling and gagging, I heave with effort as I drown. It bubbles and pools as it drips to my chest, smothering me in crimson color. Painted in desire, viewed with desire, forced to desire. Forced to drink a ladle of blood Expected to drink a ladle of blood Just to create more ladles of blood Countless hearts. Endless hearts. All of them, just ladles of blood Perhaps one day, the gore will go down. Perhaps one day it will fill me with vigor and nothing but joy. Settle in my stomach and make my skin warm. Steal my perceived broken ladle. Be captured by one with ichor. But till that day comes, I’ll be here. Choking on ladles of blood 15 A2P2 from page 8 policy have not stemmed the environmental degradation which has continued for the last 30 years. Ann Arbor citizens and the city government itself have demonstrated a desire to move to 100% renewable energy for many years now. DTE has dragged their oil-stained feet all over the lush green carpet on these local renewable initiatives while continuing to invest in coal and gas energy sources. A2P2 offers a plan to provide 100% renewable energy by 2030, which would also lead to increased reliability. I, like many other members of my generation, spent many halcyon hours watching Saturday morning cartoons on my family's 16 inch television. We were empowered to reduce, reuse and recycle around four times per hour by singing raisins, Darkwing Duck, and the Crash Test Dummies. Many times, the children of the nineties were portrayed as the instructors for doddering fortyish parents in what trash goes where. Now I am the doddering fortyish parent and I am part of the problem. Steps taken by organizations like A2P2 are of critical importance if we are going to maintain a livable Earth for future generations. From the A2P2 website: “We believe a municipal utility is the only way Ann Arbor can reach its renewable energy goals. Municipal utilities across the country are almost always cheaper than investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and often more reliable. Additionally, a muni would create strong local union jobs and keep utility money within the community. Rather than relying on DTE and its shareholders to make decisions for us, the Ann Arbor community would have control over our power and create a pathway for other communities to break free from DTE as well.” An A2P2 press release continues, “The main objective of this phase two study should be to arrive at a technically sound and legally defensible valuation of DTE’s local distribution assets.” That is the next important step in the process. A2P2 continues to provide consumer education about their energy options at meetings and events throughout the city. On April 20 from 6-9 p.m., at Cobblestone Farms located at 2781 Packard Road, organizers will talk about the campaign to replace DTE with a municipal electric utility powered by 100% renewable energy for Ann Arbor. Bill McKibben, nationally-known environmental activist, author, and founder of 350.org will be providing the keynote via the Internet. Joining in person, Christy McGillivray, political and legislative director for the Sierra Club Michigan, will share her thoughts. Greg Woodring, A2P2 President, and advisory board members Yousef Rabhi, Mikal Goodman and Michelle Deatrick will also be present. Tickets cost $30 and a plant-based meal will be provided. Captain Planet is not scheduled at this time, but he would certainly approve.
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